Alexandra Says Do Your Research
Your Name: Alexandra
Date Joined MK: 1/28/2008
When Left MK or Still Active?: Active
Initial Inventory Purchased: 2/11/2008
How were you recruited?: I actually called the lady who sold me Mary Kay about becoming a consultant. I love the products and wanted to share them.
Memorable experience you had in MK: My first sale, and the show parties I had.
What did you learn from MK?: I saw the good and bad points of Mary Kay. I learned how to have more confidence in myself and that I could put my mind to whatever I wanted to do. However I have seen an alarming trend in Mary Kay, of women lying, manipulating, and cheating just to attain a career car or an extra commision.
What are you doing now?: I work full time and sell MK part time.
Additional Comments:
I posted this in another post, but wanted to post it again for anybody reading the consultant stories. I researched for 2 months before I decided to try to sell MK. My research involved websites like Pink Truth, Associated Content and The Fraud Files. I read the comments and stories and made a very informed decision to sell the product. Based on my experiences and overall opinion, it seems that the real money is in just being a consultant. I started with $600 of initial inventory and by selling to women at work, show parties, and selling online, MK has more than supplemented my family income. However that is all it will ever be to me, a secondary income. My advice to everyone starting or thinking about starting MK is the following.
#1 RESEARCH everything. Go to websites like this one and especially Pink Truth and read what other women have experienced.
#2 TRY the product. MK is the only product that works on my overly sensitive face. That is one reason why it is so easy for me to be enthusiastic about selling it. If it works for you, you can market yourself as proof that the product works.
#2 BELIEVE in the product. If you think it is crap, then obviously you can’t sell crap.
#3 START SMALL. Don’t buy into the hype of “you must order thousands of inventory!” Think about who you know, where you work at, where you socialize at. If at all possible, ask your friends if they would honestly try MK. See what they would like to help you gauge exactly what to order.
#4 EDUCATE yourself on the products. My director, kaybot annoyance aside, knows these products, and she spent hours with me educating me on them.
#5 BE YOURSELF! Use your own script and words to sell. If you are your own boss, you should set your own expectations. If I’m doing parties I’m wearing something nice, but definitely not a dress!
#6 The absolute key to my success is this…DO NOT BUY INTO THE HYPE OF MOVING UP! The way I run my business clashes with my director because she wants to see me “move up in MK”. I’m not that stupid. Why should I spend all my time trying to recruit my customers, and possibly further alienate them? Why should I order a bunch of inventory my customers never buy and rack up credit card debt, just so that director can have extra money in her pocket? And who is suffering and broke…you. The scary thing is Mary Kay Ash started this company to enrich women, but in turn many of them have enriched themselves at the expense of those around us.
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Lipstick on 
Great summary Alexandra. I have found certain MK products work very well for my skin while others don’t. What works for me doesn’t always work for my friends and that’s okay. I try most of the products just to be familiar with them and know how well they do or don’t work firsthand. I used to use ALL MK products but have recently changed to Avon’s foundation and Cover Girl’s mascara because they work better for me. People need to know you can still “sell” MK and not have to use ALL of their products. Everyone’s skin is different. MK DOES NOT WORK for everyone. You also don’t have to attend all the silly girl meetings or conferences, neither do you have to move up in the company. If you sell enough great, if not so what?
Words to live by…